FNN Reporting is Slanderous, Misleading
At the 6/24 Select Board meeting, Patrick Carr requested a retraction from the Neighb News for Beth David’s false and irresponsible reporting of the 6/10 SB Meeting. Beth responded in her 6/27 issue: “So, Mr. Carr is at it again, being a bully in a public meeting. He wants a retraction from the Neighb News.
“I think not. …
“What exactly do you want me to retract, Mr. Carr? All of that is true. I reported on what happened at the meeting. No one explained at that meeting why your property was added into the district. So, no retraction is warranted. Nothing is incorrect.”
I disagree. Beth’s reporting was irresponsible, incorrect, and inflammatory.
In her “From the Editor” on 6/13, Beth includes:
“The Fairhaven Select Board had a super long meeting. I concentrated on just a couple of the fun items (see pages 4 & 27). I mean, one can only get so much in here, right? The Planning Board is in it again. This time they’re mostly not happy because they were out of the loop. But our friend Patrick Carr, and now his buddy Ruy DaSilva, are back in the spotlight. Really guys….”
Only so much room to report, yet the one piece she included in her “From the Editor” is her allegation that Patrick and Ruy are back in the spotlight. These two men were not even mentioned at the actual SB Meeting, but instead they were implicated in letters written to the SB by two Planning Board Members: Kevin Grant and Jessica Fidalgo. In regards to the properties owned by Patrick Carr and Ruy DaSilva, Kevin and Jessica’s comments were complete conjecture.
On page 4, Beth writes:
“The working waterfront was not initially included in the overlay district … In somewhat of a curiosity, however, the ‘waterfront was added back in January,’ according to Dillon Sussman of Dobson & Flinker. He did not elaborate on why.”
This is not true. 43:00 minutes into the meeting, Sussman outlined the strengths and weaknesses of the waterfront district. At 43:35 he explains that a development proposal was made within that district which would have been preferable over a 40B structure, since under a 40R “the town would have more control and predictability.”
Beth goes on:
“With the addition of the waterfront, the district now encompasses property owned by Planning Board members Patrick Carr and Ruy DaSilva. The PB will need to hold public hearings for the bylaw and will be the board that submits it to town meeting for approval.”
Again, mention of Patrick and Ruy never occurred. Instead of reporting extensively on the actual meeting, Beth chose to irresponsibly report on accusatory, speculative letters from current Planning Board Members. The only reference to the letters during the meeting was when they were entered into public record. They were not read out loud.
Her reporting was misleading and slanderous.
Erin Carr, Fairhaven
Editor’s Note: The writer is Mr. Carr’s daughter, and owns a business with him, which is also in the proposed district.
Ms. Carr is correct, at about 43 minutes the consultant does say the change was due to a proposed 40B project. We will run a correction in print and online. The rest of the article is accurate and will not be retracted.
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